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diff --git a/76590-0.txt b/76590-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c93504a --- /dev/null +++ b/76590-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1096 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76590 *** + + + + + + THE PENNY MAGAZINE + + OF THE + + Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + 2.] PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. [April 7, 1832 + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + POMPEII. + + [Illustration: Restored View of Pompeii.] + + ⁂ The volume on ‘Pompeii,’ lately published in the Library of + Entertaining Knowledge, contains every authentic detail of the + destruction of that city by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius, A.D. 79; + and the second volume, which will be shortly published, will + complete the description of the remains of public and private + buildings, and of articles of domestic use, which have been + discovered in the ruins. The following observations on this + interesting subject are from an intelligent correspondent, who has + had the advantage of visiting the spot. + +It is certainly surprising, that this most interesting city should have +remained undiscovered until so late a period, and that antiquaries and +learned men should have so long and materially erred about its +situation. In many places masses of ruins, portions of the buried +theatres, temples, and houses were not two feet below the surface of the +soil; the country people were continually digging up pieces of worked +marble, and other antique objects; in several spots they had even laid +open the outer walls of the town; and yet men did not find out _what it +was_, that peculiar, isolated mound of cinders and ashes, earth and +pumice-stone, covered. There is another circumstance which increases the +wonder of Pompeii remaining so long concealed. A subterranean canal, cut +from the river Sarno, traverses the city, and is seen darkly and +silently gliding on under the temple of Isis. This is said to have been +cut towards the middle of the fifteenth century, to supply the +contiguous town of the Torre dell’ Annunziata with fresh water; it +probably ran anciently in the same channel. But, cutting it, or clearing +it, workmen must have crossed under Pompeii from one side to the other. + +As you walk round the walls of the city, and see how the volcanic matter +is piled upon it in one heap, it looks as though the hand of man had +purposely buried it, by carrying and throwing over it the volcanic +matter. This matter does not spread in any direction beyond the town, +over the fine plain which gently declines towards the bay of Naples. The +volcanic eruption was so confined in its course or its fall, as to bury +Pompeii, and only Pompeii: for the shower of ashes and pumice-stone +which descended in the immediate neighbourhood certainly made but a +slight difference in the elevation of the plain. + +Where a town has been buried by lava, like Herculaneum, the process is +easily traced. You can follow the black, hardened lava from the cone of +the mountain to the sea, whose waters it invaded for “many a rood,” and +those who have seen the lava in its liquid state, when it flows on like +a river of molten iron, can conceive at once how it would bury every +thing it found in its way. There is often a confusion of ideas, among +those who have not had the advantages of visiting these interesting +places, as to the matter which covers Pompeii and Herculaneum: they +fancy they were both buried by lava. Herculaneum was so, and the work of +excavating there, was like digging in a quarry of very hard stone. The +descent into the places cleared is like the descent into a quarry or +mine, and you are always under ground, lighted by torches. + +But Pompeii was covered by loose mud, pumice-stone, and ashes, over +which, in the course of centuries, there collected vegetable soil. +Beneath this shallow soil, the whole is very crumbly and easy to dig, in +few spots more difficult than one of our common gravel-pits. The matter +excavated is carried off in carts, and thrown outside of the town; and +in times when the labour is carried on with activity, as cart after cart +withdraws with the earth that covered them, you see houses entire, +except their roofs, which have nearly always fallen in, make their +appearance, and, by degrees, a whole street opens to the sun-shine or +the shower, just like the streets of any inhabited neighbouring town. It +is curious to observe, as the volcanic matter is removed, that the +houses are principally built of lava, the more ancient product of the +same Vesuvius, whose later results buried and concealed Pompeii for so +many ages. + + [Illustration: Implements of building found at Pompeii.] + +In the autumn of 1822 I saw Pompeii under very interesting +circumstances. It was a few days after an eruption of Vesuvius, which I +had witnessed, and which was considered by far the grandest eruption of +recent times. From Portici, our road was coated with lapilla or +pumice-stone, and a fine impalpable powder, of a palish grey hue, that +had been discharged from the mountain, round whose base we were winding. +In many places this coating was more than a foot deep, but it was pretty +equally spread, not accumulating in any particular spot. As we drove +into Pompeii our carriage wheels crushed this matter, which contained +the principal components of what had buried the city: it was lodged on +the edges of the houses’ walls, and on their roofs, (where the +Neapolitan government had furnished them with any); it lay inches thick +on the tops of the pillars and truncated columns of the ancient temples; +it covered all the floors or the houses that had no roofs, and concealed +the mosaics. In the amphitheatre, where we sat down to refresh +ourselves, we were obliged to make the guides clear it away with +shovels--it was everywhere. Looking from the upper walls of the +amphitheatre, we saw the whole country covered with it--trees and all +were coated with the pale-grey plaster, nor did it disappear for many +months after. + +Some ignorant fellows at Naples pretended the fine ashes, or powder, +contained gold! Neapolitans began to collect it. They found no gold, but +it turned out to be an excellent thing for cleaning and polishing plate. + +This dust continued to be blown from the mountain many days after the +eruption had ceased. It once made a pretty figure of me! I was riding up +the Posilippo road when it came on to rain; the rain brought down and +gave consistency to the dust, which adhered to my black coat and +pantaloons, until I looked as if I had been rolled in plaster of Paris. + +But it travelled farther than Posilippo, for a friend of mine, an +officer in the navy, assured me it had fallen with rain on the deck of +his ship, when between three and four hundred miles from Naples and +Mount Vesuvius. There is an old story, that during one of the great +eruptions of this mountain, or Etna, cinders were thrown as far as +Constantinople: by substituting the fine powder I have alluded to, for +cinders, the story becomes not improbable. + + + --------------------- + + + VAN DIEMEN’S LAND. + + [Concluded from our last.] + +The island of Van Diemen’s Land lies immediately to the south of the +vast continent of New Holland, from which it is separated by the narrow +channel called Bass’s Strait. If New Holland be regarded as a great full +bag or sack, Bass’s Strait will represent the neck, where it is drawn +together and tied close, and Van Diemen’s Land the small bunch or +gathering made beyond the string by the mere lip of the sack. While New +Holland is rather more than half as large as all Europe, the extent of +Van Diemen’s Land is only about twenty-three thousand square miles, +which is not much more than two-thirds of the size of Ireland, or a +fourth part of that of the island of Great Britain. The one, in fact, is +about eighty times as large as the other. + +One of the papers in the Van Diemen’s Land Almanac presents us with a +very full geographical description of the island. It was divided soon +after its settlement into two great counties, Buckinghamshire, embracing +the southern, and Cornwall, the northern portion of it. But the division +which is now chiefly recognised, is that made in 1827 into eight Police +districts, each under the charge of a paid magistrate. In the first of +these, occupying the south-west corner of the island, stands Hobart +Town, the capital, on the river Derwent, and about twenty miles from its +mouth. The river, however, is, even at this distance from the sea, of +considerable width, and the water is quite salt. The town stands upon a +gently rising ground, and covers rather more than a square mile. Its +streets are wide, and intersect each other at right angles. It contains +several government buildings, a parish church, and other places of +worship; a government school for the poor, and several Sunday schools; +two public banks; and several libraries. Among its manufactories Hobart +Town possesses a distillery, several breweries and tanneries, two timber +mills, several flour mills worked by steam and water, and two or three +soap and candle works. The population of the town and suburbs, including +the convicts and the military, is above seven thousand. This, we +believe, is about half the amount of the whole population of the island. + +The other towns already founded in Van Diemen’s Land, are, Launceston, +on the river Tamar, about a hundred and twenty miles north from the +capital, containing about a thousand inhabitants; New Norfolk, or +Elizabeth Town, a place of considerable traffic, and also the centre of +a rich agricultural district, standing on the Derwent, about twenty-two +miles higher up than Hobart Town; Richmond, fourteen miles from the +capital; Sorell Town, or Pitt Water, and Brighton, two other townships +in the same vicinity; Bothwell, Oatlands, Campbell Town, Ross, Perth, +and George Town, all considerably advanced settlements. Many other +stations, however, have been marked out for towns, although scarcely yet +begun to be built upon. Numerous farm-houses, also, and other detached +residences, many of them standing in the midst of enclosed fields, +gardens, and orchards, have been built in all directions. A single +agricultural association, called the Van Diemen’s Land Company, possess +a continuous tract of above three hundred thousand acres, in the +north-west part of the island. About four hundred and fifty persons +reside on this property. There are two government settlements for +persons convicted of crimes in the colony, Macquarie Harbour on the west +coast, and Maria Island on the east. + +The face of the country, though extremely diversified, is mountainous on +the whole, and, especially as seen from the south, presents a prospect +of singular sublimity; hills covered to the ridge with trees, +occasionally intermingled with a bare rocky eminence, appearing to rise +behind each other in endless succession. Some of the mountains on the +south coast are five thousand feet in height, and during a great part of +the year are covered with snow. Mount Wellington, or the Table Mountain, +a few miles to the west of Hobart Town, rises to the height of four +thousand feet above the level of the sea. The interior, however, +contains many extensive plains quite unencumbered with wood. Even the +western coast, where the scenery in general is bold and desolate, +presents many protected and fertile spots. The bays and harbours around +the coast are numerous and excellent. In this respect Hobart Town +especially is most favourably situated. The principal rivers are the +Derwent, the Huon, and the Tamar, all navigable. The Derwent, even at +New Norfolk, above forty miles from the sea, is as wide as the Thames at +Battersea. The scenery on both sides of this noble stream is described +as being of the richest beauty. The second-rate and inferior rivers are +numerous, fertilizing every part of the country, and falling into the +sea along the whole extent of the coast. In the heart of the island are +several lakes, from which many of the rivers take their rise. + +Much of the native timber of Van Diemen’s Land is excellent for all +building purposes; and others of the woods are esteemed for ornamental +cabinet-work. All the trees are evergreens. The shrubs are of great +variety and beauty; but present as yet an almost unexamined field to the +botanist. As to fruits, none of any value have been found native to this +island; but on the other hand, every sort of fruit, herb, or vegetable, +that grows in England, grows still better here. + +In respect of climate, Van Diemen’s Land enjoys the happiest medium +between the extremes of heat and cold, the thermometer rarely falling +below 40 degrees in winter, or rising above 70 degrees in summer. During +the winter months of June, July, and August, the frosts are sometimes +severe, and occasionally a good deal of snow falls; but it is seldom +that snow lies on the ground a whole day. + +Coal has been found in various places; iron-stone is believed to be +abundant; lime-stone also exists in great plenty; and it is highly +probable that the earth is enriched with various other mineral +treasures. Of the native animals, the most formidable is the hyena, by +which many of the sheep are destroyed. Wild dogs and cats of different +species are also found in the woods. The kangaroo is now fast +disappearing, having, although a perfectly harmless animal, been much +hunted by the settlers for sport, or for the sake of its flesh and skin. +There are numerous species of birds, many of them of beautiful plumage. +Various descriptions of fish also abound in the bays and creeks; but, +except eels, the lakes and rivers supply very few that are valuable as +food. Of the reptiles found in the island, the principal are snakes, +some of which are extremely venomous. + +Such is an abstract of what is most important in the paper before us, +which is followed by a more minute description of the parts of the +island that have been brought into cultivation, in the form of an +itinerary. We will now add a very few facts, selected from another +paper, on the agriculture and horticulture of the colony. + +The first cattle were brought to Van Diemen’s Land in 1807. They were “a +coarse buffalo sort of animal:” but, about nine or ten years ago, +superior breeds began to be imported from England, and the colony now +possesses pure Devons, Herefords, Durhams, Holdernesses, Fifeshires, &c. +Horses were at first brought from New Holland; but, “in the same manner +as with neat cattle,” says this account, “they have since had the +benefit of very superior crosses of English importations, and the colony +can now boast as fine horses as even England itself. It has every sort, +perhaps, that is known in the mother-country, from the heavy dray-horse +to the diminutive pony, and including, what should by no means be passed +in silence, blood and bone upon which thousands have been depending at +Newmarket and other English race-courses.” Sheep, for which both the +climate and natural herbage of the country are well adapted, are now +numerous and rapidly improving in quality. Pigs and poultry, of every +description, thrive admirably. Most sorts of grain that are common in +England, grow at least as well here. The wheat is of excellent quality, +seldom weighing less than from sixty-two to sixty-four pounds per +bushel. Barley and oats produce well upon good land; but will not answer +on inferior soils. The average return yielded by the potato is not equal +to what it yields in England; but the cultivation of this root is yet in +its infancy. Turnips and mangel-wurzel are both found to do extremely +well. The same may be said of English grasses and pulses of all sorts. + +The export trade from this colony has, as yet, been confined to the more +useful articles. Corn is sent to New South Wales, and to Swan River. +Wool is already exported in considerable quantities, and is likely to +become every year more and more the staple production of the island. +Whale-fishing and the manufacture of oil are rapidly becoming trades of +considerable importance. A good deal of mimosa bark, for tanning, is +also sent to England; and salt meats, hides, and dairy produce will +probably soon be added to the list of exported commodities. + +The regulations at present in force for the disposal of land, by grant +or sale, were issued in 1828. The main principle upon which they are +grounded is, that “settlers should not receive a greater extent of land +than they are capable of improving, and that grants should not be made +to persons who are desirous only of disposing of them.” Lands are +accordingly granted in square miles, in the proportion of one square +mile, or 640 acres, for every £500 sterling of capital which the +applicant can immediately command. Of this capital, however, a portion +may consist of live stock and instruments of husbandry. Upon the land +thus granted a quit-rent is imposed at the rate of £5 per cent. on the +estimated value of the land, the payment to commence at the expiration +of seven years from the date of the grant, when the settler will also +receive his title-deeds. The smallest quantity of land granted in this +way to an individual is 320 acres, and the largest, 2560 acres, or four +square miles. Lands may also be obtained by purchase, being advertised +for that purpose, and sold to the person making the highest tender. + +We will, in conclusion, mention a few of the more interesting +particulars, supplied by the various lists in the little volume before +us; these are indicative of the rapid progress of civilization. In +addition to the three banks in Hobart Town we find a fourth, called the +Cornwall bank, established at Launceston. There is at Hobart Town a +Mechanics’ Institute, of which the Governor is patron, and the Chief +Justice, president. Among the religious and philanthropic institutions +of this capital are, a Bible Society, of which the Governor is +president; a Presbyterian Missionary Society; a Wesleyan Missionary +Society; a Benevolent and Strangers’ Friend Society; and a Sunday School +Union, having four schools in its connexion, containing in all about 250 +children. Besides the Government Gazette, there are three other weekly +newspapers published in Hobart Town, and a fourth at Launceston. The +Almanac closes with a Directory for Hobart Town; in which, besides +merchants, general dealers, official, clerical, and other professional +characters, we find the names of civil engineers, livery-stable keepers, +watchmakers, midwives, shoemakers, bricklayers, milliners, portrait +painters, and engravers, chemists and druggists, pastry-cooks, +confectioners, glaziers, plumbers, house and sign painters, hatters, +upholsterers, cabinet-makers and undertakers, coopers, boat-builders, +auctioneers, goldsmiths, and working-jewellers, music teachers, tailors, +butchers, brewers, hosiers and glovers, ironmongers, brass and iron +founders, tinmen and blacksmiths, printers, saddlers, bakers, +hair-dressers. It would be curious to compare this list with the +population of an English town of seven thousand people three centuries +ago! + + + --------------------- + + + LOST CAMEL. + +A dervise was journeying alone in the desert, when two merchants +suddenly met him: “You have lost a camel,” said he to the merchants. +“Indeed we have,” they replied. “Was he not blind in his right eye, and +lame in his left leg?” said the dervise. “He was,” replied the +merchants. “Had he lost a front tooth?” said the dervise. “He had,” +rejoined the merchants. “And was he not loaded with honey on one side, +and wheat on the other?” “Most certainly he was,” they replied; “and as +you have seen him so lately, and marked him so particularly, you can, in +all probability, conduct us unto him.” “My friends,” said the dervise, +“I have never seen your camel, nor ever heard of him, but from you.” “A +pretty story, truly!” said the merchants, “but where are the jewels, +which formed a part of his cargo?” “I have neither seen your camel nor +your jewels,” repeated the dervise. On this, they seized his person, and +forthwith hurried him before the Cadi, where, on the strictest search, +nothing could be found upon him, nor could any evidence whatever be +adduced to convict him, either of falsehood or of theft. They were then +about to proceed against him as a sorcerer, when the dervise, with great +calmness, thus addressed the Court: “I have been much amused with your +surprise, and own that there has been some ground for your suspicions; +but I have lived long, and alone; and I can find ample scope for +observation, even in a desert. I knew that I had crossed the track of a +camel that had strayed from its owner, because I saw no mark of any +human footstep on the same route; I knew that the animal was blind in +one eye, because it had cropped the herbage only on one side of its +path; and I perceived that it was lame in one leg, from the faint +impression which that particular foot had produced upon the sand; I +concluded that the animal had lost one tooth, because wherever it had +grazed, a small tuft of herbage was left uninjured in the centre of its +bite. As to that which formed the burden of the beast, the busy ants +informed me that it was corn on the one side, and the clustering flies +that it was honey on the other.” + + + --------------------- + + +_Science preceding Art._--When the principles of any science are become +common to all the world, these principles lead to inventions, nearly, if +not altogether similar, by different persons having no communication +with each other. A remarkable instance of this is given by Judge Story, +in his address to the Boston Mechanics’ Institute:-- + +“A beautiful improvement had been made in the double-speeder of the +cotton-spinning machine by one of our ingenious countrymen. The +originality of the invention was established by the most satisfactory +evidence. The defendant, however, called an Englishman as a witness, who +had been but a short time in the country, and who testified most +explicitly to the existence of a like invention in the improved +machinery in England. Against such positive proof there was much +difficulty in proceeding. The testimony, though doubted, could not be +discredited; and the trial was postponed to another term, for the +purpose of procuring evidence to rebut it. An agent was despatched to +England for this and other objects; and, upon his return, the plaintiff +was content to become nonsuited. There was no doubt that the invention +here was without any suspicion of its existence elsewhere; but the +genius of each country, almost at the same moment, accomplished, +independently, the same achievement.” + + + --------------------- + + + BRITISH ANIMALS. + + [Illustration: A dormouse sitting on a tree stump.] + + THE DORMOUSE + +The little dormouse has now awakened from his fitful sleep. When the +winds of March sweep away the lingering fogs of winter,--when the tender +buds are first seen on the trees, and the primrose first shows its head +in the green banks--before the swallow comes to our shores, or the rook +has finished her nest--the dormouse rouses up from the bed where he has +slept for several months. His sleep, however, is not constant through +the cold season, like that of some other animals; for he wakes, at +times, to eat of the store of nuts and beech-mast which he has provided +for his sustenance in the autumn. The marmot, a quadruped inhabiting +some mountainous parts of Europe, makes no provision of this kind in his +subterranean galleries. He sleeps completely. + +M. Mangili, an Italian naturalist, made some curious experiments upon +the dormouse and other animals which sleep during the cold weather. He +kept the dormouse in a cupboard in his study. On the 24th December, when +the thermometer was about 40°, that is 8° above the freezing point, the +dormouse curled himself up amongst a heap of papers and went to sleep. +On the 27th December, when the thermometer was several degrees lower, M. +Mangili ascertained that the animal breathed, and suspended his +respiration at regular intervals;--that is, that after four minutes of +perfect repose, in which he appeared as if dead, he breathed about +twenty-four times in the space of a minute and a half, and that then his +breathing was again completely suspended, and again renewed. As the +thermometer became higher, that is, as the weather became less cold, the +intervals of repose were reduced to three minutes. On the contrary, when +the thermometer fell nearly to the freezing point, the intervals were +then six minutes. Within ten days from its beginning to sleep (the +weather then being very cold), the dormouse woke and ate a little. He +then went to sleep again; and continued to sleep for some days, and then +to awaken, throughout the winter; but as the season advanced, the +intervals of perfect repose, when no breathing could be perceived, were +much longer, sometimes more than twenty minutes. The effects of +confinement upon this individual animal caused him to sleep much longer +than in a state of nature. + +When a dormouse is discovered asleep, in his natural retreat, he is cold +to the touch, his eyes are shut, and his respiration is slow and +interrupted, as just described. Torpid animals, in general, when thus +found, may be shaken, or rolled, or even struck, without a possibility +of arousing them. But as the fine weather advances, the heat of their +bodies increases, as it decreases at the approaches of winter; till at +length they shake off their drowsiness, and are again the busy and happy +inhabitants of the fields and gardens, active in the search of food to +gratify their appetite, which is now as keen as it was dull in the cold +months. These movements of course depend upon the states of the +atmosphere, and are different in individuals of the same species. + + + THE SWALLOW. + +The swallow, and other birds of passage--that is, birds who fly from one +country to another, as the weather becomes unsuited to their +natures--now begin to return to us. The swallow is a general favourite. +He comes to us when nature is putting on her most smiling aspect, and he +stays with us through the months of sunshine and gladness. “The +swallow,” says Sir H. Davy, “is one of my favourite birds, and a rival +of the nightingale; for he glads my sense of seeing, as much as the +other does my sense of hearing. He is the joyous prophet of the year, +the harbinger of the best season, he lives a life of enjoyment amongst +the loveliest forms of nature; winter is unknown to him, and he leaves +the green meadows of England in autumn, for the myrtle and orange groves +of Italy, and for the palms of Africa.” + +Mr. White, a clergyman of Hampshire, who delighted to observe all the +works of the creation around him, has thus accurately described the +window swallow’s or martin’s mode of building:-- + +“About the middle of May, if the weather be fine, the martin begins to +think in earnest of providing a mansion for its family. The crust or +shell of this nest seems to be formed of such dirt or loam as comes most +readily to hand, and is tempered and wrought together with little bits +of broken straws to render it tough and tenacious. As this bird often +builds against a perpendicular wall without any projecting ledge under, +it requires its utmost efforts to get the first foundation firmly fixed, +so that it may safely carry the superstructure. On this occasion, the +bird not only clings with its claws, but partly supports itself by +strongly inclining its tail against the wall, making that a fulcrum; and +thus steadied, it works and plasters the materials into the face of the +brick or stone. But then, that this work may not, while it is soft and +green, pull itself down by its own weight, the provident architect has +prudence and forbearance enough not to advance her work too fast; but by +building only in the morning, and by dedicating the rest of the day to +food and amusement, gives it sufficient time to dry and harden. About +half an inch seems to be a sufficient layer for a day. Thus careful +workmen, when they build mud-walls (informed at first perhaps by this +little bird), raise but a moderate layer at a time and then desist, lest +the work should become top-heavy, and so be ruined by its own weight. By +this method, in about ten or twelve days, is formed a hemispheric nest +with a small aperture towards the top, strong, compact, and warm, and +perfectly fitted for all the purposes for which it was intended. + +“The shell or crust of the nest is a sort of rustic-work, full of knobs +and protuberances on the outside: nor is the inside of those that I have +examined smoothed with any exactness at all; but is rendered soft and +warm, and fit for incubation, by a lining of small straws, grasses and +feathers, and sometimes by a bedding of moss interwoven with wool. They +are often capricious in fixing on a nesting-place, beginning many +edifices and leaving them unfinished; but when once a nest is completed +in a sheltered place, after so much labour is bestowed in erecting a +mansion, as nature seldom works in vain, the same nest serves for +several seasons. Those which breed in a ready finished house, get the +start in hatching of those that build new by ten days or a fortnight. +These industrious artificers are at their labours in the long days +before four in the morning; when they fix their materials, they plaster +them on with their chins, moving their heads with a quick, rotatory +motion.” + + [Illustration: A swallow perched outside its nest.] + + + --------------------- + + + THE WEEK. + +April 7.--The day of the birth, and also that of the death, of Raffaello +Sanzio da Urbino, whom the universal voice of posterity has recognized +as the Prince of modern Painters, and designated by the enthusiastic +appellation of “the divine Raphael.” No rival, at least, has ever been +placed beside Raphael except Michael Angelo. Of the two illustrious +contemporaries the former may perhaps be appropriately styled the +Shakspeare, the latter the Milton of Painting. Dignity and imposing +grandeur of design are the reigning characteristics of Michael Angelo; +the highest dramatic power which has ever been displayed by the pencil, +and the representation of passion with all the force of life, are the +qualities that chiefly give their wonderful fascination to the works of +Raphael. Raphael was born at Urbino in 1483. By the time he had reached +the age of twenty-five he had so greatly distinguished himself that he +was invited by Pope Julius II. to paint in fresco the chambers of the +Vatican. From this time till his death, in 1520, at the early age of +thirty-seven, he was employed in the execution of a succession of great +works, chiefly for that pontiff and his successor, Leo X. His most +famous performances are, his picture of the School of Athens in the +Vatican, the Transfiguration, and his Cartoons on subjects taken from +the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, which were brought to this +country by Charles I., and are now to be seen at Hampton Court, upon the +payment of a shilling for each party. Like Michael Angelo, Raphael was +an architect as well as a painter, and, among other buildings, +superintended the erection of part of the cathedral of St. Peter’s. But +his untimely death interrupted his prosecution of this and other great +works on which he was engaged; leaving him, however, although with a +glory gathered in comparative youth, with no living superior, and +followed by no equal in succeeding times. + +April 10.--This is the birth-day of the celebrated Dutch writer, Hugh de +Groot, better known by his Latin name of Grotius, who was born at Delfft +in 1583. Grotius was a prodigy of youthful talent and acquirement. When +only fourteen he prepared an edition of a Latin author, Martianus +Capella, in which he showed extensive classical and historical +erudition. At the age of sixteen, having already made a journey to +France, and been presented to Henry IV., who honoured him with the gift +of his picture and a gold chain, he entered upon the profession of an +advocate at Delfft. From this time he continued till his death to take +an active part in political transactions; but still found leisure to +write a vast number of books, most of them distinguished for their +learning and ability. The book by which he is now principally known is +his famous treatise on the law of nations, entitled, ‘On the right of +Peace and War.’ It was first published at Paris in 1625. Another of his +productions, which is still very popular, is his treatise ‘On the Truth +of the Christian Religion,’ written, like the former, in Latin, but +which has been translated into every language of Europe. Grotius wrote a +great part of this work while confined by a rival political faction in +the castle of Louvestein, from which, however, after nearly two years’ +detention, his wife contrived to get him conveyed away in a chest, which +she pretended was full of books. Grotius died in his sixty-third year, +on the 28th of August, 1645. + +April 11.--The birth-day of the late Right Honourable George Canning, +who was born in London, in the year 1771. His father, an Irish gentleman +of good family, died the same year in which his son was born. At the +usual age young Canning was sent to Eton, where he soon distinguished +himself by the brilliancy of his talents. While there he made the first +public trial of his literary powers in ‘The Microcosm,’ a very clever +periodical work, which he carried on in conjunction with some of his +schoolfellows, and of which he was the projector and the editor. In 1787 +he removed to Christ Church, Oxford, intending to adopt the profession +of the law. But while yet at the University, his reputation for ability +obtained for him the notice of Mr. Pitt, who brought him into Parliament +in 1793. Mr. Canning’s official career belongs to the history of his +country, and especially that period of it during which he was Secretary +of State for Foreign Affairs. The system of foreign policy with which +his name is associated has caused his memory to be held in honour; and +although he opposed Parliamentary Reform, as well as other popular +measures, yet his steadfast support of Catholic Emancipation for a long +series of years, and the protection he afforded to the cause of freedom +on the Continent, and in South America, are proofs of his attachment to +his celebrated toast of “_Civil and Religious Liberty all over the +World!_” In April, 1827, he was appointed Prime Minister by George the +Fourth, and continued to hold the offices of First Lord of the Treasury +and Chancellor of the Exchequer till his death, on the 8th of August in +the same year, at the Duke of Devonshire’s villa at Chiswick, after a +short illness. His death at so early a period after his accession to +power called forth a deep feeling of grief in his own country, and, +perhaps, a still stronger and more general feeling on the Continent, +where medals were struck in memory of the British Minister. + + + --------------------- + + + THE BRITISH MUSEUM. + +“The characteristic of the English populace,--perhaps we ought to say +people, for it extends to the middle classes,--is their propensity to +mischief. The people of most other countries may safely be admitted into +parks, gardens, public buildings, and galleries of pictures and statues; +but in England it is necessary to exclude them, as much as possible, +from all such places.” + +This is a sentence from the last published number of the ‘Quarterly +Review.’ Severe as it is, there is much truth in it. The fault is not +entirely on the side of the people (we will not use the offensive term +populace); but still they are in fault. The writer adds, speaking of +this love of mischief, which he calls “a disgraceful part of the English +character,” that “anything tends to correct it that contributes to give +the people a taste for intellectual pleasures,--anything that +contributes to their innocent enjoyment,--anything that excites them to +wholesome and pleasurable activity of body and mind.” This is quite +true. We hope to do something, speaking generally, to excite and gratify +a taste for intellectual pleasure; but we wish to do more in this +particular case. We wish to point out many unexpensive pleasures, of the +very highest order, which all those who reside in London have within +their reach; and how the education of themselves and of their children +may be advanced by using their opportunities of enjoying some of the +purest gratifications which an instructed mind is capable of receiving. +Having learnt to enjoy them, they will naturally feel an honest pride in +the possession, by the Nation, of many of the most valuable treasures of +Art and of Science; and they will hold that person a baby in mind--a +spoiled, wilful, mischievous baby--who dares to attempt the slightest +injury to the public property, which has been collected together, at an +immense expense, for the public advantage. + +Well, then, that we may waste no time in general discussion, let us +begin with the BRITISH MUSEUM. We will suppose ourselves addressing an +artisan or tradesman, who can sometimes afford to take a holiday, and +who knows there are better modes of spending a working day, which he +some half-dozen times a year devotes to pleasure, than amidst the smoke +of a taproom, or the din of a skittle-ground. He is a family man; he +enjoys a pleasure doubly if it is shared by his wife and children. Well, +then, in Great Russell-street, Bloomsbury, is the British Museum; and +here, from ten o’clock till four, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, +he may see many of the choicest productions of ancient art--Egyptian, +Grecian, and Roman monuments; and what will probably please the young +people most, in the first instance, a splendid collection of natural +history--quadrupeds, birds, insects, shells--all classed and beautifully +disposed in an immense gallery, lately built by the Government for the +more convenient exhibition of these curiosities. “But hold,” says the +working man, “I have passed by the British Museum: there are two +sentinels at the gateway, and the large gates are always closed. Will +they let me in? Is there nothing to pay?” That is a very natural +question about the payment; for there is too much of paying in England +by the people for admission to what they ought to see for nothing. But +_here_ there _is_ nothing to pay. Knock boldly at the gate; the porter +will open it. You are in a large square court-yard, with an +old-fashioned house occupying three sides. A flight of steps leads up to +the principal entrance. Go on. Do not fear any surly looks or +impertinent glances from any person in attendance. You are upon safe +ground here. You are come to see your own property. You have as much +right to see it, and you are as welcome therefore to see it, as the +highest in the land. There is no favour in showing it you. You assist in +paying for the purchase, and the maintenance of it; and one of the very +best effects that could result from that expense would be to teach every +Englishman to set a proper value upon the enjoyments which such public +property is capable of affording. Go boldly forward, then. The officers +of the Museum, who are obliging to all strangers, will be glad to see +you. Your garb is homely, you think, as you see gaily-dressed persons +going in and out. No matter; you and your wife, and your children, are +clean, if not smart. By the way, it will be well to mention that very +young children (those under eight years old) are not admitted; and that +for a very sufficient reason: in most cases they would disturb the other +visitors. + +You are now in the great Hall--a lofty room, with a fine staircase. In +an adjoining room a book is presented to you, in which one of a party +has to write his name and address, with the number of persons +accompanying him. That is the only form you have to go through; and it +is a necessary form, if it were only to preserve a record of the number +of persons admitted. In each year this number amounts to about seventy +thousand: so you see that the British Museum has afforded pleasure and +improvement to a great many people. We hope the number of visitors will +be doubled and trebled; for exhibitions such as these do a very great +deal for the advance of a people in knowledge and virtue. What +reasonable man would abandon himself to low gratifications--to drinking +or gambling--when he may, whenever he pleases, and as often as he +pleases at no cost but that of his time, enjoy the sight of some of the +most curious and valuable things in the world, with as much ease as a +prince walking about in his own private gallery. But that he may enjoy +these treasures, and that every body else may enjoy them at the same +time, it will be necessary to observe a few simple rules. + +1st. _Touch nothing_. The statues, and other curious things, which are +in the Museum, are to be seen, not to be handled. If visitors were to be +allowed to touch them, to try whether they were hard or soft, to scratch +them, to write upon them with their pencils, they would be soon worth +very little. You will see some mutilated remains of two or three of the +finest figures that ever were executed in the world: they form part of +the collection called the Elgin Marbles, and were brought from the +Temple of Minerva, at Athens, which city at the time of the sculpture of +these statues, about two thousand three hundred years ago, was one of +the cities of Greece most renowned for art and learning. Time has, of +course, greatly worn these statues: but it is said that the Turkish +soldiers, who kept the modern Greeks under subjection, used to take a +brutal pleasure in the injury of these remains of ancient art; as if +they were glad to destroy what their ignorance made them incapable of +valuing. Is it not as great ignorance for a stupid fellow of our own day +slily to write his own paltry name upon one of these glorious monuments? +Is not such an act the most severe reproach upon the writer? Is it not, +as if the scribbler should say, “Here am I, in the presence of some of +the great masterpieces of art, whose antiquity ought to produce +reverence, if I cannot comprehend their beauty; and I derive a pleasure +from putting my own obscure, perishable name upon works whose fame will +endure for ever.” What a satire upon such vanity. Doubtless, these +fellows, who are so pleased with their own weak selves, as to poke their +names into every face, are nothing but grown babies, and want a fool’s +cap most exceedingly. + +2dly. _Do not talk loud._ Talk, of course, you must; or you would lose +much of the enjoyment we wish you to have--for pleasure is only half +pleasure, unless it be shared with those we love. But do not disturb +others with your talk. Do not call loudly from one end of a long gallery +to the other, or you will distract the attention of those who derive +great enjoyment from an undisturbed contemplation of the wonders in +these rooms. You will excuse this hint. + +3rdly. _Be not obtrusive._ You will see many things in the Museum that +you do not understand. It will be well to make a memorandum of these, to +be inquired into at your leisure; and in these inquiries we shall +endeavour to assist you from time to time. But do not trouble other +visitors with your questions; and, above all, do not trouble the young +artists, some of whom you will see making drawings for their +improvement. Their time is precious to them; and it is a real +inconvenience to be obliged to give their attention to anything but +their work, or to have their attention disturbed by an over-curious +person peeping at what they are doing. If you want to make any inquiry, +go to one of the attendants, who walks about in each room. He will +answer you as far as he knows. You must not expect to understand what +you see all at once: you must go again and again if you wish to obtain +real knowledge, beyond the gratification of passing curiosity. + +In future numbers we shall briefly mention what is most worthy your +attention in this National Collection. + + + --------------------- + + + POESIE. + + [George Wither, born 1588, died 1677.] + + Though I miss the flowery fields, + With those sweets the spring-tide yields; + Though I may not see those groves, + Where the shepherds chaunt their loves, + And the lasses more excel, + Then the sweet-voiced Philomel; + Though of all those pleasures past, + Nothing now remains at last, + But remembrance (poor relief) + That more makes, then mends my grief; + She’s my mind’s companion still, + Maugre Envy’s evil will. + She doth tell me where to borrow + Comfort in the midst of sorrow; + Makes the desolated place + To her presence be a grace; + And the blackest discontents + Be her fairest ornaments. + In my former days of bliss, + Her divine skill taught me this, + That from every thing I saw, + I could some invention draw; + And raise pleasure to her height, + Through the meanest object’s sight. + By the murmur of a spring, + Or the least bough’s rustling; + By a daisy whose leaves spread, + Shut when Titan goes to bed, + Or a shady bush or tree, + She could more infuse in me, + Then all nature’s beauties can, + In some other wiser man. + By her help I also now + Make this churlish place allow + Some things that may sweeten gladness + In the very gall of sadness. + The dull loneness, the black shade, + That those hanging vaults have made, + The strange music of the waves + Beating on these hollow caves, + This black den which rocks emboss, + Overgrown with eldest moss, + The rude portals that give light, + More to terror than delight,-- + This my chamber of neglect, + Walled about with disrespect, + From all these, and this dull air, + A fit object for despair, + She hath taught me by her might + To draw comfort and delight. + Therefore, thou best earthly bliss, + I will cherish thee for this. + Poesie, thou sweet’st content, + That e’er Heaven to mortals lent; + Though they as a trifle leave thee, + Whose dull thoughts cannot conceive thee; + Though thou be to them a scorn, + That to nought but earth are born; + Let my life no longer be, + Than I am in love with thee. + +George Wither, the author of the above lines, was several times +subjected to long and severe imprisonment for his political opinions. +While in the Marshalsea prison in 1613, he wrote his ‘Shepherd’s +Hunting,’ a pastoral poem, from which this is an extract. The verses are +not only beautiful in themselves, but they point out how a vigorous mind +will secure happiness under the most unfavourable circumstances. The +imagination of Wither was delighted to repose upon the most common +natural objects;--and in the same way, the man who possesses the least +of the outward gifts of fortune, if his faculties be awake to the +beauties which nature has so plenteously scattered around his path, may +possess in himself a source of pleasure of the purest kind. The rapture +which Wither expresses for ‘Poesie,’ may to some appear overstrained; +but let it not be thought that the poet attributed this power of +imparting delight to his faculty alone of _making verses_. The exercise +of his fancy, by which he could “raise pleasure to her height,” +consisted in presenting to his “mind’s eye” the infinite beauties of the +creation. The “daisy,” whose remembrance gladdened even his +prison-walls, brought to him images of the quiet and purity of the +“flowery fields.” Such images every body may enjoy, and may gradually +learn to associate the commonest appearances of nature with a high moral +feeling. We have many instances of this power of association in our +finest poets; let us take as an example the following lines by a writer +of our own day:-- + + TO A DAISY. + + Bright flower, whose home is every where + A pilgrim bold in Nature’s care, + And oft, the long year through, the heir + Of joy or sorrow. + + Methinks that there abides in thee + Some concord with humanity, + Given to no other flower I see + The forest thorough! + + And wherefore? Man is soon deprest; + A thoughtless thing! who, once unblest, + Does little on his memory rest, + Or on his reason. + + But thou would’st teach him how to find + A shelter under every wind; + A hope for times that are unkind, + And every season. + + WORDSWORTH. + + + --------------------- + + + ON THE CHOICE OF A LABOURING MAN’S DWELLING. + +It seems, on the first view, somewhat odd to talk about choice of +dwelling to a labouring man. It may occur to such a person, that as he +has seldom more than two or three shillings per week to allow for rent, +he must be contented with the humble accommodations that can be afforded +for that sum. This is, to a certain extent, true; but it is not +therefore to be concluded that the exercise of a little prudence may not +put him in possession of some advantages with his two or three +shillings, which the want of that quality would exclude him from. There +are some dwellings so badly situated, in such ill repair, and altogether +so miserable, that a man exposes himself and his family to disease and +every other inconvenience by inhabiting them. Such hovels are usually +tenanted by people who are behind-hand in paying their rent, and so +cannot leave them; or who, being “steeped to the very lips in poverty,” +are indifferent to cleanliness and all other comforts. It is possible +that an industrious and careful family may, for some time, be obliged to +live in a wretched house; but it is their own fault if they continue in +it. In this country the poor are better lodged than in any other in +Europe; and within the last twenty years the increase of population and +of productive labour has caused a demand for cottages, which has covered +every parish, and particularly the neighbourhood of large towns, with an +amazing number of snug little houses, in which provision is generally +made for the comfort of those who inhabit them. Now while there is such +a _choice_ of dwellings, it is very much a labouring man’s fault if he +does not have a commodious one; and if he continue to be the tenant of a +damp, or ruinous, or badly ventilated hut, while the snug brick and +tiled tenement remains vacant, we should say that he is a blind and +stupid observer of an old proverb (which, however, has much sense in it) +that “three removes are as bad as a fire.” + +We wish to offer a few plain hints to assist our readers in the choice +of a dwelling. And, first, of situation. + +Whoever rambles through our villages must often see a pretty little +cottage, that realizes all that benevolence could wish for a labouring +man’s dwelling. We have seen many such; and the remembrance often occurs +to us, when we observe rich men unhappy, in large mansions, and amongst +splendid furniture. We then think of the contrast which the simplicity +and content of the “peasant’s nest” offers. Who has not looked upon the +whitened walls, half covered with roses and jessamine, and the neat +garden, where ornament is blended with utility, + + And said, if there’s peace to be found in the world, + A heart that is humble may hope for it here! + +But an agreeable dwelling is not always to be commanded; nor is the +_best_ situation always to be found. If a cottager have a house with a +northern aspect, he must pay a little more attention to his gooseberry +and apple trees, to make them bear as plentifully as those which are +trained in a southern sun. We are only desirous to caution him against a +house that is truly uncomfortable, and that cannot be easily rendered +otherwise. + +We would first say, avoid, if it be possible, a low and marshy +situation. There are many dangerous fevers which are produced by the +vicinity of stagnant waters: and houses which from their site are +constantly damp expose those who inhabit them to rheumatism, croup, +ague, and other painful disorders. The same effects are produced by +dwelling-houses which are subject to occasional inundations of rivers. +To be driven in cold weather from the accustomed fire-side to shiver in +bedrooms which have probably no grate; to have two or three feet of +water running through the lower part of the house, destroying many +things and injuring more; and at last, when the inundations cease, to +find the whole dwelling damp and miserable for several weeks: this is a +visitation which no one would willingly seek. If a cottager has +therefore the choice of being on a hill-side, or by the bank of a river, +we think, if he were a sensible man, he would prefer the elevated +situation. + +On the _construction_ of a dwelling, we have not much to observe. The +great requisite is the free admission of _light_ and _air_. _Dark_ rooms +are an inconvenience to the industrious housewife which we need not +describe; and rooms not properly _ventilated_ are more injurious to +health than may readily be conceived. Every sleeping-room should have a +chimney. In England, no sitting-room is, we apprehend, without one. But +in Ireland, the peasantry have neither window nor chimney to their +wretched hovels. The smoke of the turf which burns upon their hearth +forces its way out by the door; and the family sit and sleep in this +dark and dirty condition. This would be intolerable amongst the more +cleanly and richer peasantry of this country. + +Of the appendages to a house, a good supply of water is one of the most +necessary conveniences. If the pitcher is to be carried a dozen times a +day to a spring or a well a quarter of a mile off, it is almost the +labour of one person to procure this supply; and that labour would +contribute as much to the family earnings as, in twelve months, would +dig a well. No cottager should be without a garden. A rood of land, +properly cultivated, will half maintain a careful family. + +Of the _fixtures_ of a house we cannot be expected to say much. A +_copper_ and an _oven_ will enable the female to labour most profitably +for the general good. A cottager that can grow his own potatoes, keep +his pig, brew his beer, and bake his bread, has not many necessaries to +purchase of the shopkeeper, and is therefore, to a certain extent, +independent in the best sense of the word. + +As to furniture, we would say, avoid _furnished lodgings_. The bed and +table, and two or three chairs, of these places, seldom cost more than +5_l._, the interest of which is only 5_s._ a year. The money annually +paid for the use of such things is almost as much as their prime cost. +There is a satisfaction, too, in knowing that what is about us is our +own. It is better to sit upon an old box or a block of wood than to pay +enormously for the hire of a chair; and we may sleep as soundly upon a +straw mattress as upon an expensive feather-bed. One secret, to be happy +in every situation of life, is this,--not to sacrifice real comfort and +solid independence to make a show. When the cottager has got ten pounds +in the Savings Bank, he may afford his wife a mahogany tea-table. An +American writer has given some judicious remarks upon this subject, +which apply to all classes:-- + +“If you are about to furnish a house, do not spend all your money, be it +much or little. Do not let the beauty of this thing, and the cheapness +of that, tempt you to buy unnecessary articles. Doctor Franklin’s maxim +was a wise one, ‘Nothing is cheap that we do not want.’ Buy merely +enough to get along with at first. It is only by experience that you can +tell what will be the wants of your family. If you spend all your money, +you will find you have purchased many things you do not want, and have +no means left to get many things which you do want. If you have enough, +and more than enough, to get every thing suitable to your situation, do +not think you must spend it all, merely because you happen to have it. +Begin humbly. As riches increase, it is easy and pleasant to increase in +comforts; but it is always painful and inconvenient to decrease. After +all, these things are viewed in their proper light by the truly +judicious and respectable. Neatness, tastefulness, and good sense may be +shown in the management of a small household, and the arrangement of a +little furniture, as well as upon a larger scale; and these qualities +are always praised, and always treated with respect and attention. The +consideration which many purchase by living beyond their income, and of +course living upon others, is not worth the trouble it costs. The glare +there is about this false and wicked parade is deceptive; it does not in +fact procure a man valuable friends, or extensive influence.” + + + --------------------- + + +However small may be a man’s income, there is one very certain way of +increasing it--that is _Frugality_. A frugal expenditure will enable +almost every body to _save_ something; and as there are now established +throughout this country _Banks_, where the industrious may safely +deposit their savings, however little they may be, and receive the same +sort of advantage which the rich derive from their money, that is, +_interest_, there is every inducement to make _an effort to save_. Dr. +Franklin observes, in his usual forcible way, that “six pounds a-year is +but a groat a-day. For this little sum which may be daily wasted, either +in time or expense, unperceived, a man of credit may, on his own +security, have the constant possession and use of a hundred and twenty +pounds.” Many humble men in England have risen to wealth by such small +beginnings; but many more continue to expend the groat a-day +unnecessarily, and never cease to be poor. + + + --------------------- + + +A certain pope, who had been raised from an obscure situation to the +apostolic chair, was immediately waited upon by a deputation sent from a +small district, in which he had formerly officiated as _cure_: it seems +that he had promised the inhabitants that he would do something for +them, if it should ever be in his power; and some of them now appeared +before him, to remind him of his promise, and also to request that he +would fulfil it, by granting them _two harvests in every year_! He +acceded to their _modest_ request, on condition that they should go home +immediately, and so adjust the Almanac of _their_ own particular +district, as to make every year of _their_ Register consist of +twenty-four calendar months. + + + --------------------- + + +Sir George Staunton visited a man in India who had committed a murder, +and, in order not only to save his life, but what was of much more +consequence, his _caste_, he submitted to the penalty imposed; this was, +that he should sleep for seven years on a bedstead, without any +mattress, the whole surface of which was studded with points of iron, +resembling nails, but not so sharp as to penetrate the flesh. Sir George +saw him in the fifth year of his probation, and his skin was then like +the hide of a rhinoceros, but more callous; at that time, however, he +could sleep comfortably on his “_bed of thorns_,” and remarked, that at +the expiration of the term of his sentence, he should most probably +continue that system from choice, which he had been obliged to adopt +from necessity. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + LONDON:--CHARLES KNIGHT, PALL-MALL EAST. + + _Shopkeepers and Hawkers may be supplied Wholesale by the following + Booksellers:_-- + + _London_, GROOMBRIDGE, Panyer Alley, Paternoster-Row. + _Birmingham_, DRAKE. + _Leeds_, BAINES and Co. + _Liverpool_, WILLMER and SMITH. + _Manchester_, ROBINSON. + _Dublin_, WAKEMAN. + _Edinburgh_, OLIVER and BOYD. + _Glasgow_, ATKINSON and Co. + + Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES, Duke Street, Lambeth. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + Transcriber’s Notes + + +This file uses _underscores_ to indicate italic text. New original cover +art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain. Itemized +changes from the original text: + + • p. 11: Added missing closing quotation mark to title “On the Truth of + the Christian Religion.” + • p. 12: replaced single with double closing quotation mark after + phrase “pleasurable activity of body and mind.” + • p. 13: Added missing letter “l” in phrase “intending to adopt the + profession of the law.” + • p. 13: Added missing period after phrase “an undisturbed + contemplation of the wonders in these rooms.” + • p. 16: Added missing commas and final letter “t” in passage beginning + “the same sort of advantage which the rich derive from their money.” + • p. 16: Removed apparent hyphen from address “Panyer Alley” to match + other issues. + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76590 *** |